Betty Ford, the widow of late President Gerald Ford and a co-founder of an eponymous addiction center in California, has died at the age of 93, according to the director of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum.

WASHINGTON—First lady Michelle Obama will travel to California to attend a funeral service on Tuesday for former first lady Betty Ford, the White House has announced.
Ford, born Elizabeth Anne Bloomer in Chicago on April 8, 1918, was the wife of...

Betty Ford made it socially acceptable to seek treatment for alcohol and drug abuse. By going public with her own story of addiction, she opened the door for thousands of others to admit they had a problem.
Her commitment to drug and alcohol treatment,...

On weekday mornings, I'll post the most controversial, shocking and (of course) ridiculous stories for your reading pleasure. That way, when you walk into work, you'll be the master of witty conversation.
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A report last week that the University of Maryland Medical Center is one of 10 hospitals across the country this year that will begin offering new residency programs in addiction medicine is welcome news for Baltimore, which for decades has suffered from epidemic levels of drug and alcohol abuse and a violent drug trade that claims hundreds of lives every year. Estimates of the size of Baltimore's substance abuse problem range anywhere from one in 10 to one in six city residents. No city can make progress...

Actor Harrison Ford has listed his compound in Brentwood for $8.295 million.
The Colonial Revival-style house, designed by Gerard Colcord and built in 1951, is set off the street at the end of a long gated driveway. On more than three-quarters of an acre with mature trees and three detached guest suites, the two-story main house has been restored and remodeled in keeping with the original design.
"It was a one-story Colcord country Colonial," said Bret Parsons, author of the book "Colcord Home." The...

With close to 2 million Americans dependent on or abusing prescription painkillers, a growing number of families are redefining their notions of what a drug addict looks like.
"The person with the drug problem is not necessarily a teenager shooting up in a dark alley or snorting cocaine at an all-night party," writes Barbara Gordon in "I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can" (Beaufort Books), her newly re-released memoir of a life unraveled by addiction to prescription drugs. "It may be a woman turned out in an...

The desert retreat of former President Gerald Ford and Betty Ford has come on the market in Rancho Mirage at $1.699 million.
Set in the Thunderbird Country Club, the 6,316-square-foot midcentury home was built in 1979 and designed by architect Welton Becket. Among his works are L.A.'s Capitol Records Building, Pomona City Hall and Glendale City Hall.
The main residence includes a staff waiting room, five bedrooms and 61/2 bathrooms. The Fords' furnishings, excluding family portraits, are also...

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.
The 4,088-square-foot house, built in 1962, features walls of glass, dark bamboo flooring, three fireplaces, four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with a tennis court, a lap pool and beach access.
Pitt, 48, starred last year in the Oscar-nominated "Moneyball" and "The Tree...

The gig: David Jones, who owns a floral studio bearing his name in West Hollywood, has counted some of the world's most powerful people among his clients. From humble beginnings growing up in the Midwest, the florist has traveled the world — arranging flowers for state dinners and a papal visit, organizing celebrity parties and events, and designing gardens in locales including Paris and Melbourne, Australia.
A steppingstone: During high school in South Bend, Ind., Jones worked for a flower store...